Just back from Oct 15-22 on the Magic

[ilovetoronto]

First time cruiser. Took family. Heres my honest feelings.

I realize cruising isnt for everybody. Im still on the fence.

Things I loved:

1)Food was quite nice and restaurants were very nice.

2)Ship was beautiful

3)Family enjoyed the 3d movies and the live shows were great.

4)Key West was cool, Castaway Cay was fantastic. Cozumel was so so. Costa Maya Mexico was ok.

5)Overall, employees did try hard.

6) Never did see any gold/platinum lanyard bragging or abuse like some have stated.

Things I didnt like:

1)Pools are ridiculously small

2)Topsiders buffet is terribly organized. Trays getting knocked over everyday. Finding tables was a real pain many times and some had to be cleaned after you ran to get them. Food was very good though. Ridiculous reach over to get to back trays (that has to be a health issue)

3)It just felt like Disney was always trying to get you to open your wallet even more than you already had.

4)Beds were horrible. The lump in the middle of the 2 pushed together twins was unbearable at times.

5)Servers seemed too pushy in regards to trying to get you to buy drinks with dinner.

6)If weather isnt great it can really hurt the trip.

7) I wanted to lower our pre paid tips to our servers (service was very subpar) but the set up just makes you feel uncomfortable .

8)Found out onboard that Grand Cayman is extremely hard to port in and gets cancelled a lot. Did for us which was a huge bummer. From talking to others it seems to happen quite often.

9)A lot of very very very annoying so called moms and dads. Ill leave it at that.


Again Im still on the fence. If you're on a budget a Disney Cruise can be annoying at times.

I just felt very limited in my options many times onboard.

Im sure I left out more good and bad. Ill update later.


Thanks

 

[SlimKat]

I was also on that sailing. It was my first Disney cruise but I've been on several cruises overall. Comparatively speaking I thought it was excellent. Not that I didn't see things that needed tweaking but overall my family really, really enjoyed it. Treatment was great, shows were pretty good, and the fireworks at sea? Well let's just say that whole pirate party won major brownie points with my boys.

The one thing that truly bothered me and I have never seen it addressed on the boards is the lackluster job Disney does at the ports. Twice we docked beside NCL and they natives in Mexican dress taking photos with the passengers. They as made the area pretty by either placing several potted plants along the gangway or a covered sitting area. Disney on the other hand so so blah. I didn't feel happy entering the ports without any fanfare. I was used to it from other cruises and was disappointed when I didn't have an official photo to show for it.

I don't mean to take up your thread but was wondering how you feel about it.

 

[iloverags2]

1)Pools are ridiculously small
3)It just felt like Disney was always trying to get you to open your wallet even more than you already had.
6)If weather isnt great it can really hurt the trip.
7) I wanted to lower our pre paid tips to our servers (service was very subpar) but the set up just makes you feel uncomfortable .
8)Found out onboard that Grand Cayman is extremely hard to port in and gets cancelled a lot. Did for us which was a huge bummer. From talking to others it seems to happen quite often.
Again Im still on the fence. If you're on a budget a Disney Cruise can be annoying at times.

Unfortunately, these points can be said for just about any major cruise line (save the true all-inclusive luxury lines where gratuities and all drinks are included in the fare upfront). I have sailed Carnival, Disney, and Royal Caribbean...you will be nickled and dimed on all of them, and believe it or not the least nickel and diming I have encountered is on Disney. Oy!

The one thing that truly bothered me and I have never seen it addressed on the boards is the lackluster job Disney does at the ports. Twice we docked beside NCL and they natives in Mexican dress taking photos with the passengers. They as made the area pretty by either placing several potted plants along the gangway or a covered sitting area. Disney on the other hand so so blah. I didn't feel happy entering the ports without any fanfare. I was used to it from other cruises and was disappointed when I didn't have an official photo to show for it.

Yeah, I agree with you on this. While the constant photo taking can be irritating at times, there are moments when I would love to have a photo of us going ashore at one of the ports. Years ago I used to hate getting off the ship just because of those photographers. Now that they are gone, I miss them. (I guess I just cannot be pleased! LOL)

 

[SplashMountainManiac]

I was also on that sailing. It was my first Disney cruise but I've been on several cruises overall. Comparatively speaking I thought it was excellent. Not that I didn't see things that needed tweaking but overall my family really, really enjoyed it. Treatment was great, shows were pretty good, and the fireworks at sea? Well let's just say that whole pirate party won major brownie points with my boys.

The one thing that truly bothered me and I have never seen it addressed on the boards is the lackluster job Disney does at the ports. Twice we docked beside NCL and they natives in Mexican dress taking photos with the passengers. They as made the area pretty by either placing several potted plants along the gangway or a covered sitting area. Disney on the other hand so so blah. I didn't feel happy entering the ports without any fanfare. I was used to it from other cruises and was disappointed when I didn't have an official photo to show for it.

I don't mean to take up your thread but was wondering how you feel about it.

Actually I am exactly the opposite on this. When I sail RCL or NCL, I hate being forced to take pictures with fake characters on the way off the ship. Leave me alone, lol. NCL was really bad in Hawaii. The photographers would get nasty if you didn't want to take a picture. For me the gangway is there just to get on and off the ship, I don't need to hang around for long. I also never buy photos having worked in photo sales at a theme park before, so that my slightly bias my opinion here.

Also agree with pp about the nickle and diming. After sailing on 4 cruise lines, I can promise you that Disney is the best. NCL will not leave you alone. On their private island, I actually saw them waking people up to ask if they wanted drink orders. Crazyness.